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Contents
Introduction 3
Basic Filipino Ingredients 4
Dips and Condiments 7
Appetizers 11
Soups 20
Vegetables 26
Noodles 32
Rice 40
Seafood 48
Meat and Poultry 57
Desserts 85
Complete Recipe Listing 96

MAIL ORDER SOURCES


Finding the ingredients for Asian home cooking has become very simple. Most super-
markets carry staples such as soy sauce, fresh ginger and fresh lemongrass. Almost
every large metropolitan area has Asian markets serving the local population-just
check your local business directory. With the Internet, exotic Asian ingredients and
cooking utensils can be easily found online. The following list is a good starting
point of online merchants offering a wide variety of goods and services.

http:/ /www.asiafoods.com
http:/ /www.geocities.com/MadisonAvenue/807 4/Varor E.h tml
http:/ I dmoz.org/Shopping/Food/Ethnic_and_Regional! Asian/
http:/ /tern pleofthai.com/
http:/ /www.orientalpantry.com/
http:/ /www.zestyfoods.com/
http://www. thaigrocer.com/Merchant/ index.h tm
http:/ /asianwok.com/
http:/ I pilipinomart.com/
http://www.ramarfoods.com/main.asp?p=home

2 Filipino Homestyle Dishes


F ilipino food is one of the least well-known of all Southeast Asian
cuisines. Strongly influenced by the historical presence of the Spaniards,
Chinese and Americans, it lacks the singular national identity that char-
acterizes the food of other nations. Any mention of Filipino food would
probably draw a blank from most people who can't associate it with any dish
in particular. What is it? How does it taste? How does one cook it?
Yet it is precisely this indefinable quality, this veil of mystery surrounding
it, that makes Filipino food an interesting discovery.
Imagine a stew of slowly tenderized beef, its sauce thickened by long,
patient simmering, enriched with the flavors of olive oil and grated cheese.
Or a pot of backyard vegetables cooked in shrimp paste and a spell of garlic,
garnished with morsels of cubed pork. Or a parfait of tropical fruits and
beans, sweetened with sugar and milk and topped with crushed ice. These,
and more, are all part of the repertoire of the Filipino cook. They show the
diversity of Filipino cuisine-from the Spanish-influenced Caldereta, to the
indigenous Pinakbet, to the Asian-inspired Halo-halo melange.
This diversity is likewise reflected in the wide variety of ingredients used
in Filipino cooking. While some dishes may call for the liberal application of
Spanish olive oil, others are more Oriental in their use of Asian condiments
such as soy sauce and shrimp paste. Moreover, not only are these condiments
used during the cooking process; often they are also served at the table as
dips, so that diners can customize the flavor of the dishes according to their
own tastes.
Many Filipino dishes are also characterized by heavy sauces. While this
may seem strange to some, to Filipinos it makes perfect sense. The sauces in a
dish are often used to soften and flavor the rice with which the dish is eaten.
Thus, dishes such as Stewed Pork (Estofado) are seldom served dry. These
sauces are to Filipinos what gravy is to the Americans or Europeans.
With the advent of globalization, many Filipinos are now more aware of
the cuisines of other countries. Modern appliances have also made cooking a
much easier task than it was a century ago. Yet while hamburgers and pasta
may sometimes be cooked in the contemporary Filipino kitchen, more often
it is the standard Filipino dishes that rule. There will always be Adobo,
Menudo and fish sauce, shrimp paste and soy sauce in a Filipino kitchen,
whether it be in the urban climes of Manila or in the rugged terrain of Abra.
This collection of recipes presents authentic Filipino dishes as they would
be cooked in a Filipino home. Many are personal tiworitcs in my own family;
all have been kitchen tested and are representative of true Filipino cuisine, in
all its diversity, simplicity and complexity. They are a magical discovery of the
food of a resilient people who, while adopting foreign influences, have man-
aged to create a cuisine that is truly their own-part Western, part Oriental,
and uniquely, enchantingly Filipino.

3
Basic Filipino Ingredients
Almond essence or Bitter gourds, known in the Philippines, or chili
almond extract is sold in the Philippines as padi in Malaysia and
small bottles in the bak- ampaZaya, are green and Singapore (and are com-
ing section of supermar- resemble fluted cucum- monly referred to as "bird's
kets. If almond essence is bers. They are available eye chilies" elsewhere).
not available, substitute fresh from Asian grocery These are often chopped
with vanilla extract. stores. Bitter gourds are and used in dipping sauces.
sometimes salted before SiZing Zabuyo chilies are
cooking to eliminate their used sparingly -the
bitter taste. If bitter gourd
amount of heat increases
is unavailable, substitute as the size diminishes.
winter melon or cucumber. The longer finger-length
chilies, known as siZing
mahaba in Tagalog, are
Annatto seeds, known as often cooked with soups
atsuete in the Philippines, and stir-fries. To reduce
are dried, reddish-brown the heat of a chili while
seeds that are used as a retaining its flavor, make
food coloring or dye. The Chayote, known as sayote a lengthwise slit and
seeds are soaked, then in the Philippines, or remove the seeds.
squeezed in water to christophene or choko, is
extract the red coloring, a pale green squash that Coconut cream and
which lends an orange to resembles a wrinkled pear. coconut milk are used in
reddish tint to food. It should be peeled before many Filipino desserts and
Artificial red food color- use. If chayote is not avail- curries. To obtain fresh
ing may be substituted. able, substitute zucchini. coconut cream (which is
normally used for
Chicharon or deep-fried desserts), grate the flesh
pork cracklings, are thin of 1 coconut into a bowl
pieces of pork rind that (this yields about 3 cups
are grilled and then deep- of grated coconut flesh),
fried until crispy. They add 1I 2 cup water and
are sold in packets and knead thoroughly a few
Banana heart is the ten- are available in Asian times, then squeeze the
der innermost portion of grocery stores. mixture firmly in your
the stem of the young fist or strain with a muslin
banana plant. It is cooked Chilies come in two basic cloth or cheese cloth.
as a vegetable and is varieties; the small (about Thick coconut milk is
available fresh in Asian I in/21/ 2 em in length) obtained by the same
grocery stores. and very hot chilies are method but by adding
known as siling labuyo in double the water to the

4 Filipino Homestyle Dishes


grated flesh (about 1 cup a plastic bag for about filling in spring rolls. It is
instead of lf 2 cup). Thin one week. Parsley is a sold fresh in Asian grocery
coconut milk (which is suitable substitute. stores and supermarkets,
used for curries rather and may be substituted
than desserts) is obtained with lotus root or cabbage.
by pressing the grated
coconut a second time- Kanton noodles are thin
adding 1 cup of water to noodles that are made
the same grated coconut from wheat and egg.
flesh and squeezing it They are available in
again. Although freshly round or flat shapes in a
pressed milk has more Fish sauce or patis is made variety of sizes.
flavor, coconut cream and from salted, fermented
milk are now widely sold fish or prawns. It is clear, Palm sugar is distilled
canned or in packets that golden brown in color, from the juice of the aren
are quick, convenient and tastes salty, and is used in or coconut palm fruit,
quite tasty. Canned or marinades, dressings and and has a rich flavor.
packet coconut cream or dipping sauces. It is sold Substitute with dark
milk comes in varying in bottles and is available brown sugar, maple
consistencies depending in Asian grocery stores syrup or regular sugar
on the brand, and you will and supermarkets. with a touch of molasses.
need to try them out and
adjust the thickness by Hoisin sauce is a sweet Pan de sal is the national
adding water as needed. Chinese sauce made bread of the Philippines,
In general, you should add from soybeans. It is used usually made with salt,
1 cup of water to 1 cup of as a dipping sauce and yeast, sugar and flour and
canned or packet coconut flavoring and is sold in shaped into a bun. If pan
cream to obtain thick jars or cans in Asian de sal is not available, it
coconut milk, or 2 cups grocery stores. may be substituted with
of water to 1 cup of any bun or bread.
coconut cream to obtain
thin coconut milk. These Plantains look like
mixing ratios are only bananas, but are less sweet
general guides however. and have a firmer texture,
For best results, follow which makes them suitable
the package instructions. for preparation as a veg-
Jicama, also known as yam etable. They are available
Coriander leaves, also bean or bangkuang in in Hispanic markets. If
known as cilantro, are Malaysia and Singapore, unavailable, unripe bananas
widely used as a flavoring is a crunchy tuber with or pumpkins make a rea-
and garnish. Fresh crisp, white flesh and beige sonable substitute.
coriander leaves have a skin. It may be eaten raw
strong taste and aroma with a spicy dip or may Pinipig is a rice cereal that
and can be refrigerated in be sauteed and used as a has been flattened and

Basic Filipino Ingredients 5


toasted in a pan to make Asian desserts. Sago pearls thin crepe made from a
it crunchy. It is used in are sold in packets in Asian batter of rice flour, water
desserts or as a topping. grocery stores. Sago pearls and salt, with or without
It can also be eaten as a should not be confused eggs. Wrappers made
cereal or as an accompa- with fresh sago, which is with eggs are known as
niment to thick hot choco- starchy and sticky. egg roll wrappers and
late. If pinipig is not avail- rolls made with this type
able, any crispy rice cereal Shrimp paste, known as of wrapper are normally
such as Rice Krispies may bagoong in Tagalog, is a deep-fried. Thinner rice
be used as a substitute. dried, salty paste made flour wrappers come
from fermented shrimp. already cooked and must
Rice flour is sold in It is the same as Indon- be moistened with a bit
packets in supermarkets. esian trasi, Thai kapi or of water or steamed to
It can be made in small Malaysian belachan. make them flexible.
quantities by first soaking
1I 2 cup long grain rice in Soy sauce is brewed from Tofu is a soy product that
water for 5 hours. Drain wheat, salt and soy beans. comes in many forms
and transfer the rice to a Black soy sauce is dark and and consistencies. Firm
blender. Add 1/ 2 cup water thick and gives a slightly tofu is sold fresh in
and grind until a thick smokey flavor to a dish, supermarkets in sealed
liquid mixture forms. Pour while regular soy sauce is plastic tubs. Pressed tofu,
the mixture into a fine thinner and saltier. known as tokwa in the
sieve and set aside until the Philippines, is tofu that
water drains and a paste has been pressed to expel
forms. Use as indicated in most of the water.
the recipe. This yields
about 1/ 2 cup rice flour. Water spinach is a nutri-
tious leafy green vegetable
Rice vermicelli are very also known as water con-
fine, white threads made Spanish sausages, known volvulus or kangkong.
from rice flour. These as chorizo, are dried pork Young shoots may be eaten
dried noodles can be easily sausages flavored with raw as part of a salad
rehydrated by soaking in paprika, garlic and chili. platter or with a dip. The
hot water for a few min- In Filipino cuisine, they leaves and tender stems
utes, then rinsing before are usually added to stews are usually braised.
adding to soups or frying. rather than being eaten
on their own. They are Wonton wrappers are
Sago pearls are tiny dried available from supermar- square pastry-like wrap-
beads of sago obtained by kets and may be substi- pers sold in various sizes in
grinding the pith of the tuted with pepperoni or the refrigerator sections of
sago palm to a paste and any other spicy sausages. supermarkets. They are
pressing it through a sieve. filled with meats or veg-
It is glutinous, with little Spring roll wrappers or etables, then fried, steamed
taste, and is often used in lumpia wrappers are a or boiled in soups.
6 Filipino Homestyle Dishes
Lechon Sauce
31h oz (100 g) chicken 1 Grill the chicken livers under a broiler until half
livers cooked, about 3-4 minutes, then press the livers
2 tablespoons cider through a sieve to extract the juices and soft meat.
vinegar Discard the remaining parts of the livers.
1f4 cup breadcrumbs 2 Combine the chicken liver juices with the remaining
11h tablespoons minced ingredients in a saucepan and simmer over medium
garlic heat until mixture thickens, about 30 minutes.
1h cup (50 g) minced 3 Serve with Deep-fried Pork (see page 69).
onion
1h teaspoon salt, adding Makes about 1 cup
extra to taste
Preparation time: 10 mins
1/4 teaspoon pepper,
Cooking time: 30 mins
adding extra to taste
1 tablespoon dark brown
sugar or palm sugar
1f2 cup (125 ml) water

Garlic Vinegar Dip


1h cup (125 ml) vinegar 1 Combine the vinegar, garlic and black pepper in a
4-5 cloves garlic, peeled bowl then set aside.
and crushed 2 Serve with Deep-fried Pork (page 69) or Filipino
1/ 4 teaspoon freshly
Sausages (page 73)
ground black pepper,
adding extra to taste Makes about 1/2 cup
Preparation time: 5 mins

Sour Cream-Mayonnaise Dip


1h cup mayonnaise 1 In a bowl, mix mayonnaise and sour cream to form
1h cup sour cream a smooth mixture. Add garlic and adobo seasoning, if
3-4 cloves garlic, minced desired. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
1 teaspoon adobo sea- 2 Serve as a dip with deep-fried dishes.
soning (optional)
1 teaspoon salt Makes about 1 cup
1I 2 teaspoon pepper
Preparation time: 5 mins

Dips and Condiments 7


Grilled Eggplant Relish
8 oz (225 g) eggplants l Grill the eggplants under a preheated broiler or
1 tablespoon lime juice over a barbecue grill until tender, about 15 minutes,
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed turning frequently to cook evenly. Slice open the
2 tablespoons vinegar eggplants and scoop out the soft flesh. Finely mash
1h teaspoon salt
the eggplant flesh with the back of a fork. Sprinkle
1/ 4 teaspoon pepper
with lime juice and set aside for a few minutes.
1 small tomato, diced 2 Combine the garlic and vinegar in a bowl. Pour over
1 scallion, chopped the mashed eggplants. Add salt and pepper. Mix well
and garnish with tomato and scallions
Makes about 11/2 cups 3 Serve as relish with fried or steamed fish.
Preparation time:
10-15 mins
Cooking time: 15 mins

Garlic Mayonnaise Dip


lh cup (125 ml) mayon- l Mix the ingredients in a bowl to form a smooth
naise mixture.
8-10 cloves of garlic, 2 Serve as a dip with Crispy Squid Rings (page 17).
peeled and crushed
1 teaspoon white sugar
If Knorr or Maggi seasoning sauce is not available,
1 teaspoon Knorr or substitute with 2-3 drops of Worcestershire sauce.
Maggi seasoning sauce
lj4 teaspoon salt, adding
extra to taste Makes about 1J2 cup
1/ 4 teaspoon pepper, Preparation time: 5 mins
adding extra to taste

Vinegar Lime Dip


lf4 cup (125 ml) soy sauce l Combine all the ingredients in a bowl. Set aside for
2 tablespoons vinegar several minutes to allow the flavors to blend.
2 tablespoons lime juice 2 Serve as a dip for grilled or fried fish, or grilled pork.
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
lh tablespoon sugar Makes about 1 cup
1-2 scallions, chopped Preparation time: 5 mins
2 tablespoons water
1/ 4 teaspoon pepper or

chopped red chilies

8 Filipino Homestyle Dishes


Pickled Daikon and Carrots (Acharang Labanos)
7 oz (200 g) daikon 1 Rinse salted radishes in water thoroughly, making
radish, peeled and very sure to remove all the salt. Press out all the water and
thinly sliced, mashed set aside.
with lh cup salt and 2 Combine sugar and vinegar in a saucepan and stir.
set aside 3-4 hours Simmer over low heat until mixture becomes clear,
3f4 cup (150 g) sugar
about 3 minutes. Add the radish and carrots. Simmer
lh cup (125 ml) white for about 5 minutes.
or cane vinegar
3 Remove from heat and, using a slotted spoon, transfer
1 medium carrot, peeled
radish and carrots to a clean glass bowl. Pour in a lit-
and very thinly sliced
tle of the vinegar-sugar syrup. Set aside to cool. Store
in a covered container. Refrigerate and serve with
Makes 2 cups
fried fish, fried chicken or grilled dishes.
Preparation time: 20 mins
+ 3-4 hours soaking
Cooking time: 10 mins

Green Mango and Tomato Relish


1 green unripe mango 1 Peel and dice the mango, discarding the mango
(about 5 oz/150 g) seed. Combine the mango with the tomatoes
2-3 small ripe tomatoes, and onions.
diced 2 Mix the sugar, fish sauce and lime juice. Pour
1 small onion, minced over the mango mixture and stir. Set aside for 5-10
1 tablespoon sugar, minutes before serving.
adding extra to taste
3 Serve with Cured Pork (page 68), Chicken and Pork
2 tablespoons fish sauce
Adobo (page 62) or fried fish dishes.
1 tablespoon lime juice

Serves 4
Preparation time: 10 mins

Dips and Condiments 9


Cut wrapper into two. Spoon 2 tablespoons Moisten edges of wrapper with egg and water
of ground pork mixture onto each wrapper. mixture. Roll wrapper and seal the edges.

10 Filipino Homestyle Dishes


Tasty Pork and Shrimp Spring Rolls
(Lumpiang Shanghai)
2 tablespoons oil 1 To make the Sweet and Sour Sauce, blend the sugar,
2 tablespoons finely salt, tomato ketchup and vinegar in a saucepan.
minced garlic Simmer over low heat. Stir in the cornstarch mixture.
1j2 cup diced onions Continue simmering, stirring occasionally, until the
1 lb ( 450 g) ground pork sauce thickens. Turn off heat and set aside.
6 oz (180 g) fresh shrimp, 2 Heat the oil in a frying pan and saute the garlic and
peeled, deveined and onions. Add pork and and saute until lightly browned.
diced Add the shrimp, scallions, jicama and carrot and saute
1/ 4 cup chopped scallions
until pork is cooked through, stirring to mix well.
1h cup julienned jicama
Season with the salt and pepper. Set aside to cool.
1 medium carrot, grated
3 Combine egg and water in a small bowl. Cut each
1/ 4 teaspoon salt, adding
spring roll wrapper in half. Spoon about 2 tablespoons
extra to taste
1j4 teaspoon pepper,
of the ground pork and shrimp mixture onto each
adding extra to taste wrapper. Moisten the edges of each wrapper with the
1 egg egg mixture. Roll each wrapper, folding in the ends,
1-2 tablespoons water then seal the edges.
20 spring roll wrappers 4 Heat half of the oil in a frying pan over high heat
3 cups (750 ml) oil for until hot, then reduce the heat. Fry the rolls in batches
deep-frying in the hot oil until browned, adding more oil as
needed. Serve hot with the Sweet and Sour Sauce.
Sweet and Sour Sauce
1/ 4 cup (50 g) sugar Makes 40 spring rolls
1I 4 teaspoon salt Preparation time: 30 mins
2 tablespoons tomato Cooking time: 40 mins
ketchup
1j4 cup (60 ml) vinegar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
dissolved in lh cup
(125 ml) water

Appetizers 11
Papaya Relish (Papaya Achara)
1 small unripe papaya, 1 Peel the papaya then grate into thin strips. Coat the
(about 10 oz/300 g) pa paya strips well with 2 teaspoons of salt. Rinse and
2 teaspoons salt squeeze out any juice. Pat dry with paper towels.
3j4 cup (150 g) sugar 2 Mix the sugar, vinegar and 1/ 2 teaspoon of salt in a
3j4 cup (185 ml) white large saucepan . Add the papaya strips and simmer for
vinegar about 5 min utes. Add carrots and bell peppers and
lh teaspoon salt simmer for 5 minutes, or until carrots are tender.
1 small carrot, thinly sliced Drain and arrange in a bowl.
1/ 2 red bell pepper, thinly
3 Soak the ginger slices in hot water and drain . Toss
sliced
ginge r and raisins with the cooked vegetables.
l h green bell pepper,
4 Combine the Syrup ingredients in a separate saucepan.
thinly sliced
8-10 thin slices ginger Bring to a boil, lower heat and simmer for 5 m inutes.
1/ 4 cup (25 g) raisins
Pour the Syrup over the cooked vegetables.
5 Set aside to cool then transfer to a container and
Syrup cover. If not using immediately, store in a refrigerator.
3j4 cup (150 g) sugar Serve with roasted or fried meats.
1/ 2 cup (125 ml) cane or
white vinegar Serves 4- 6
lj2 teaspoon salt Preparation time: 30 mins
Cooking time: 20 mins
12 Filipino Homestyle Dishes
Green Salad (Ensaladang Pinoy)
5-6 large lettuce leaves, 1 To make the Dressing, combine the sugar, vinegar,
torn salt and fish sauce in a bowl and stir well. Add the
2 medium tomatoes, ground black pepper then set aside for a few minutes.
quartered 2 Toss the lettuce leaves, tomatoes, cucumber and
1 small cucumber, thinly onions.
sliced 3 Pour the Dressing over the tossed vegetables just
1h medium yellow onion, before serving.
thinly sliced
Serves 4-6
Dressing
Preparation time: 15 mins
1I 2 cup (1 oo g) superfine

sugar
314 cup (185 ml) vinegar
1I 2 teaspoon salt
1h tablespoon fish sauce
1I 4 teaspoon freshly
ground black pepper

Appetizers 13
Spicy Garlic Shrimp (Gambas)
1 lb (450 g) fresh medi- 1 Marinate the peeled shrimp in the lime juice for
um shrimp, peeled and about 30 minutes.
deveined 2 Heat the oil in a frying pan or wok and saute garlic
1 tablespoon lime juice until lightly browned. Add shrimp and stir-fry until
2 tablespoons oil they turn pink, about 3 minutes.
3 tablespoons crushed 3 Season with hot pepper sauce and salt and pepper
garlic to taste. Transfer to a serving dish and garnish with
1j4 teaspoon Tabasco or
parsley and sliced chilies if desired.
other hot pepper sauce
1j4 teaspoon salt, adding
Serves 4-6
extra to taste
Preparation time: 20 mins + 30 mins marinating
1I 4 teaspoon freshly
Cooking time: 5 mins
ground black pepper,
adding extra to taste
Few sprigs parsley, to
garnish (optional)
1 green chili, thinly sliced,
to garnish (optional)

14 Filipino Homestyle Dishes


Braised Vegetables with Fish (Dinengdeng)
1/
4 cup (60 ml) oil 1 Heat the oil in a frying pan and fry the fish for
2-4 small fish or 1 lb 2-3 minutes on each side, or until golden brown.
(450 g) fish fillets (any Set aside to cool slightly, then slice. Place the chayote,
fish may be used, such eggplants, green beans and fish slices in a large
as mackerel, scad or saucepan.
tilapia) 2 Mix the shrimp paste with water until smooth, then
1 lb (450 g) chayote or pour into the saucepan.
squash, peeled and cut 3 Simmer over medium heat for 10-15 minutes until
into bite-sized pieces
vegetables are cooked but still firm.
10 oz (300 g) eggplant,
cut into bite-sized
Serves 4
pieces
Preparation time: 5 mins
3 1h oz (100 g) green
Cooking time: 25 mins
beans, sliced into 2-in
(5-cm) pieces
2 tablespoons shrimp
paste
1/ cup (60 ml) water
4

Appetizers 15
Tofu and Pork Vinaigrette {Tokwa't Baboy)
10 oz (300 g) pork 1 Simmer the pork shoulder in water for 30 minutes or
shoulder until cooked through. Drain and set aside to cool.
8 oz (225 g) pressed tofu 2 While the pork is simmering, pat the pressed tofu
(tokwa) dry with paper towels then cut into bite-sized pieces.
2 tablespoons oil Heat the oil in a wok or skillet and fry the tofu pieces
1 small onion, diced over medium heat in batches until they turn golden
1/4 cup (60 ml) vinegar
brown, 2-3 minutes each side. Remove from the heat,
2 tablespoons soy sauce drain on paper towels and set aside.
2 tablespoons chopped
3 Mix the onions, vinegar and soy sauce in a bowl.
scallions, to garnish
Add water to taste if the mixture is too sour. Set aside
(optional)
for a few minutes.
4 Slice the pork shoulder thinly and combine with the
Serves 4-6
reserved tofu in a separate bowl.
Preparation time: 30 mins
5 Pour the soy sauce mixture over the pork and tofu
Cooking time: 45-50 mins
and stir. Garnish with scallions, if desired, and serve
with rice and other dishes.

16 Filipino Homestyle Dishes


Crispy Squid Rings (Calamares)
Often served in bars and bistros as a snack, Calamares is a dish of Spanish origin
adopted by Filipinos and localized with the use of calamansi limes.

1 lb (450 g) medium 1 Slice the cleaned squid into rings. Marinate in lime
squid, head, ink sacs juice for about 30 minutes.
and tentacles discarded, 2 Dip the squid rings in egg whites, then dredge in flour.
purple skin peeled 3 Heat the oil in a wok over medium heat and fry the
2 tablespoons lime juice squid rings in hot oil a few pieces at a time until they
2 egg whites turn golden brown, about 1 minute. Do not overcook
lh cup (60 g) flour as this will make the squid tough. Remove the rings
1 cup (250 ml) oil from the wok and drain on paper towels. Season with
lf4 teaspoon salt, adding
the salt and pepper.
extra to taste 4 Serve on a bed of lettuce leaves, with Garlic
1/4 teaspoon freshly
Mayonnaise Dip (see page 8) on the side, if desired.
ground black pepper,
adding extra to taste
Serves 4-6
Lettuce leaves, for
Preparation time: 15 mins + 30 mins marinating
serving (optional)
Cooking time: 15-20 mins

Appetizers 17
Vegetarian Rice Paper Rolls (Lumpiang Sariwa)
2 tablespoons oil 1 To prepare the Sauce, blend the sugar, water, salt and
1 cup (200 g) pressed soy sauce in a saucepan, bring to a boil then simmer
tofu (tokwa), diced 5 minutes. In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch and
1 cup (100 g) green water to form a smooth mixture. Stir into the sugar-
beans, thinly sliced on soy sauce mixture. Simmer over low heat until the
the diagonal mixture thickens, about 10-15 minutes.
1 medium carrot, julienned 2 Heat the oil in a pan and stir-fry the diced tofu over
3j4 cup (100 g) thinly
medium heat until browned, about 5-7 minutes.
sliced white cabbage
1/ teaspoon salt
Remove from pan and set aside.
4
1/ teaspoon pepper
3 Blanch the green beans, carrots and cabbage in
4
boiling water for 3-5 minutes. Drain immediately
12 rice flour spring roll
and rinse with cold water. Drain well then season
wrappers
Soft green or red lettuce with salt and pepper.
leaves 4 Steam a rice flour spring roll wrapper until soft,
1 cup (130 g) boiled about 3 minutes. Line a wrapper with a small piece of
chickpeas lettuce leaf. Spoon 2-3 tablespoons of the blanched
Chili sauce (optional) vegetables onto the lettuce leaf. Add 1 tablespoon of
8-10 cloves garlic, peeled the chickpeas and the tofu. Roll the wrapper and tuck
and crushed in one end to seal. Repeat with remaining ingredi-
ents. Serve with chili sauce, crushed garlic and Sauce.
Sauce
1 cup (200 g) dark brown Serves 4-6
sugar or palm sugar Preparation time: 40 mins
2 cups (500 ml) water Cooking time: 30 mins
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/4 cup (60 ml) water

Steam the spring roll wrappers to soften. Line a spring roll with a lettuce leaf.

18 Filipino Hornestyle Dishes


Spoon the vegetables onto the lettuce leaf. Roll the wrapper and tuck in one end to seal.

Appetizers 19
Homestyle Chicken and Vegetable Casserole
(Nilaga)
1 chicken (21/4 lbs/1 kg), 1 Place chicken and onion in a large casserole and
cut into serving portions pour in the water. Bring to a boil, then lower heat to
1 onion, thinly sliced medium and simmer for 20 minutes.
8 cups (2 liters) water 2 Add the potatoes and simmer for 5 minutes. Add
2 potatoes, peeled and the plantains and simmer until the chicken, potatoes
cut in chunks and plantains are tender, about 10 more m inutes.
2 cups thickly sliced Season with fish sauce, salt and pepper. Add the cab-
plantains (optional) bage and cook until just tender, about 2 minutes.
2 tablespoons fish sauce 3 To make the Fish Sauce Dip, combine the fish sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
and lime juice in a bowl.
1 teaspoon pepper
4 Serve soup hot with rice and Fish Sauce Dip.
1 small head cabbage,
quartered
Serves 4-6
Preparation time: 5 mins
Fish Sauce Dip
Cooking time: 35-45 mins
1/2 cup (125 ml) fish
sauce
2 tablespoons lime juice

20 Filipino Homestyle Dishes


Healthy Papaya and Ginger Chicken Soup
(Tinola)
2 tablespoons oil 1 Heat the oil in a large casserole and saute garlic for
3-4 cloves garlic, minced 1 minute. Add ginger and chicken pieces, saute until
2 in (5 em) ginger, the chicken is lightly browned, then add the water
peeled and thinly sliced and bring to a boil over high heat.
2 lbs (900 g) chicken 2 Reduce the heat to medium and simmer the chicken
pieces (breast, thighs until almost tender, about 20 minutes. Add papaya and
and drumsticks) season with fish sauce and salt. Simmer over medium
6 cups (Jl h liters) water heat until the chicken is fully cooked and papaya is
7 oz (200 g) unripe
tender, about 10 more minutes.
papaya, peeled and
3 Stir in the spinach or watercress leaves and heat
cut into chunks
through. Serve hot with additional fish sauce, if
2 tablespoons fish sauce
desired.
1 tablespoon salt
Jl h cups (50 g) spinach
or watercress leaves, Serves 6
washed and drained Preparation time: 10 mins
Cooking time: 35 mins

Soups 21
Ground Beef and Vegetable Stew (Picadillo)
2 tablespoons oil I Heat the oil in a casserole or large saucepan and
1 onion, diced saute the onion until transparent, 2-3 minutes. Add
3-4 cloves garlic, minced garlic and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute.
1 lb (450 g) ground beef 2 Add the ground beef and stir-fry until browned,
6 cups (11h_ liters) beef 3-4 minutes. Pour in the beef stock or water. Bring to
stock (made from beef a boil then simmer over medium heat. Add diced
bouillon cubes) or water potatoes and carrots and simmer until potatoes and
2 medium potatoes,
carrots are tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in spinach
peeled and diced
leaves or peas, and heat through. Season with fish
2 small carrots, peeled
sauce, salt and pepper and serve hot with rice.
and diced
1 cup (50 g) spinach
Serves 6
leaves or peas
Preparation time: 10 mins
2 tablespoons fish sauce
Cooking time: 20 mins
1/2 teaspoon salt
lf2 teaspoon freshly
ground black pepper

22 Filipino Homestyle Dishes


Delicious Beef Marrow Soup (Bulalo)
3 lbs (Jl/2 kg) beef 1 Place the sliced bones with marrow and onions in a
bones with marrow, large stockpot, pour in water and bring to a boil.
sliced Lower heat and simmer for 40 minutes. Add the beef
1 onion, sliced chunks. Return to a boil, then reduce heat to medi-
8 cups (2 liters) water um. Simmer until beef is tender, about 1 hour.
1 lb (450 g) beef shank 2 Add the potatoes and plantains. Simmer until pota-
or stewing beef, cut toes and plantains are tender, about 15 minutes.
into chunks Add the cabbage. Stir in fish sauce, salt and pepper.
2 potatoes, peeled and Cook until cabbage is just tender, about 5 minutes.
cut into chunks
3 Serve with rice and Fish Sauce Dip (see page 20).
2 cups thickly sliced
plantains
Serves 6-8
1 small head cabbage,
Preparation time: 10 mins
quartered
Cooking time: 21/ 2 hours
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1f4 teaspoon salt, adding
extra to taste
1/4 teaspoon pepper,
adding extra to taste

Soups 23
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the frontier through a channel which gave San Juan to the United
States.
CHAPTER VI

The Windows Opened


F OR HUNDREDS of years the West had now been explored—
inland, to find new routes for the fur trade, and up in the north to
find a new sea route from Europe to Asia—but no explorer had come
in to find new homes for his fellow-men.
In the middle of last century, however, the Government of
Canada sent up a scientific expedition to find out the real facts about
this country—for one thing, whether it was fit for agriculture. The fur
traders said it was not. People overseas, and most people even in
the Province of Canada, actually believed this, just as a great French
writer a hundred years before had comforted his fellow-countrymen
on the loss of “New France” by asserting that Canada itself was only
“a few acres of snow.”
Some of the more enlightened Canadians, however, were pretty
sure that the common belief was a monstrous delusion; though even
they, if any one had told them the West would yield 900,000,000
bushels of grain in a single harvest, would have smiled as at a fairy
tale.
Even without going very far west, the explorers of 1857 and
1858 saw enough to convince them that many million acres of the
prairie were arable land of first quality. One of the chief men of the
expedition, S. J. Dawson, wrote:

“Of the valley of Red River I find it impossible to speak in any


other terms than those which may express
astonishment and admiration. I entirely concur in the A Paradise of
Fertility
brief but expressive description given to me by an
English settler on the Assiniboine, that the valley of Red River,
including a large portion belonging to its great affluent, is a ‘Paradise
of fertility’ . . . Indian corn, if properly cultivated, and an early
variety selected, may always be relied on. The melon grows with the
utmost luxuriance without any artificial aid, and ripens perfectly
before the end of August. Potatoes, cauliflowers, and onions, I have
not seen surpassed at any of our provincial fairs. The character of
the soil in Assiniboia [now Manitoba], within the limits of the ancient
lake ridges [a great lake covered that region, long ago] cannot be
surpassed. As an agricultural country, I have no hesitation in
expressing the strongest conviction that it will one day rank among
the most distinguished.”

The windows had been opened, though the door was still shut. It
was only a glimpse that the world then got by looking in, but that
was enough. “A Paradise of Fertility.”
The Mother country sent out an expedition on its own account.
One of its objects was to see if a railway could be built through the
Rocky Mountains, as part of a great line on British soil from the
Atlantic to the Pacific. That expedition discovered a pass through
which the railway was finally built, as we shall see. Its discoverer,
James Hector, got a kick from a horse up there, and “Kicking Horse
Pass” it has been ever since. At that time, however, Captain Palliser,
at the head of the expedition, reported after four years’ work that
the railway would cost too much. In 1863 the Red River settlers sent
an envoy to England, begging the Imperial Government to connect
them with Canada by rail; but even that was too expensive.
The door stayed shut, accordingly. Settlers of the
more adventurous sort dribbled in, by the roundabout Indian
Humanity
route through the States, or coming up by the Lakes. and Savagery
But fur traders and Indians had the prairie and
woodlands almost to themselves for another quarter of a century.
The Company went on bartering, the braves went on hunting—and
for some years fighting, too.
As far back as 1750, Captain Coats had blamed his employers,
the Hudson’s Bay Company, for not trying to convert the natives
—“leaving such swarms of God’s people in the hands of the divill,
unattempted, as well as the other Indians in generall, a docile,
inoffensive, good-natured, humane people,”—“as if gorging
ourselves with superfluitys was the ultimate condition of this life.”
The Indians may not have been so “humane” as the benevolent
captain thought, but, with all their barbarous customs, on the whole
they deserved his good opinion. Fighting to kill for revenge, and to
prove their own courage, they considered the height of virtue. If
food ran short on a journey, they would abandon the aged and sick
who could not travel as fast as the rest, for delay would risk the lives
of all the band. Yet Paul Kane, after visiting many tribes, declared
that their affection for their relatives was very remarkable,
particularly for their children. “I may mention,” he says, “the
universal custom of Indian mothers eagerly seeking another child,
although it may be of an enemy, to replace one of her own whom
she may have lost, no matter how many other children she may
have. This child is always treated with as great, if not greater,
kindness than the rest.”
So far as the Indians were savage, that was all the more reason
why they should be taught better. But the Company
was afraid of losing their friendship by interfering with Printing from
Bullets on
their customs; and we remember how Samuel Hearne Birch Bark
was pushed roughly aside when he tried to stop a
massacre of the Eskimo. Paul Kane tells of a Saulteaux Indian being
hung for shooting a Sioux, in 1845, but that was in the Red River
Settlement, which had a judge and a court-house. The fur traders
generally turned a blind eye to the savagery of their customers.
Alexander Henry, who established a trading post on the Red River at
the mouth of the Pembina in 1801, for the North West Company, and
made a little garden there, gives this calm account of one day’s
incidents: “LeBoeuf stabbed his young wife in the arm. Little Shell
almost beat his old mother’s brains out with a club, and there was
terrible fighting among them. I sowed garden seed.”
The Christian folk down east and over in Britain, though they
knew little of what was going on out here, heard enough to make
their consciences uneasy. The churches, one after another, sent
missionaries to convert the Indian. The story of their devotion and
sacrifice, without hope of earthly reward, would fill many books.
Most of the Indians’ education has been carried on by the churches,
and still is. Some of these men were as ingenious as they were
devoted. There was James Evans, for example. In 1836 he not only
invented a phonetic written language for the Crees, but printed it for
them, at first melting down bullets to make the type, mixing soot
and water for ink, and using birch bark for paper. It was hard work.
“Christianity to them seems a Chimera, Religion a design to draw
them from the libidinous Pleasures of a lazy life.” So it appeared to
an English writer when the Hudson’s Bay Company had just started;
and far on in the nineteenth century, though many
tribes had been persuaded to exchange their pagan How
Lacombe
belief for the white man’s creeds, it was difficult—as it Stopped the
still is—to wean them from their haphazard ways to Fight
the white man’s standard of persistent industry.
To uproot the Indian’s cherished belief in the virtue of war
against a “hereditary foe” and “traditional enemy” was equally
difficult—and not at all strange, considering how recent is our own
awakening to the folly of that belief.
As I look out on my farm beside the old Edmonton trail, and see
the motors whizzing by, I see in imagination hordes of painted
Blackfeet riding over this very land to slay the Crees, and hordes of
Crees again to scalp the Blackfeet—in my own lifetime, too, though I
was too far off to see it.
The little town over yonder, with its churches and banks and
stores, preserves the memory of those bloody times in its very name
—Lacombe.
One winter night in 1865 the missionary Albert Lacombe was the
guest of the chief in a Blackfoot camp. Suddenly the crackle of guns
awoke the sleeping Indians. “Assinaw! Assinaw! The Crees! The
Crees!” shouted the braves, as they rushed out to defend the camp.
Bullets whizzed through the tent; you could smell the powder—the
Crees were as close as that. Now both tribes liked the missionary, as
much as they hated each other. He ran out and shouted to the
Crees, but his voice was drowned in the din. He found a Blackfoot
woman, dying of wounds, and baptized her. A Cree came on her
body, scalped her, and killed her child. The fight went on all night,
and half the camp was captured. At dawn the missionary told the
Blackfeet to stop firing, and went out again alone to parley with the
raiders. A spent bullet struck his head, nearly stunning
him, and he fell. “You have killed your friend,” a Rupert’s Land
Enters the
Blackfoot shouted. Then the Crees heard, and were Dominion
horrified. The fight was at an end; the raiders turned
right-about and made off.
Three years later, in 1868, the same Lacombe was in camp with
the Crees. In the middle of the night, their scouts brought word that
Blackfoot raiders were hiding in the brush across the valley. The
missionary went out, and, standing unarmed in the moonlight,
shouted—“Hey! Hey! Are you there and wanting to fight? Then my
Crees are ready for you. Come on, and you will see how they can
fight. They are brave, my Crees, if you come to kill their people!”
The voice “sounded big over the great prairie”—but there was no
reply. Not a shot was fired; the raiders slunk off to their homes.
Though the Indians did not know it, their country was then on
the eve of a great change. The year before, in 1867, the old Province
of Canada—Ontario and Quebec—had united with the Atlantic
Provinces of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick to form a federation, a
“Dominion of Canada.” To complete the Dominion, to unite all these
British lands from sea to sea for ever in one strong federation, it was
necessary first of all to bring in the vast territory of the Hudson’s Bay
Company. This was done in 1869. The Company gave up all its
exclusive privileges for a payment of $1,500,000 and 45,000 acres of
land. The Company also kept all its forts, with full liberty to go on
trading in free competition with others. This it continues to do, on
the largest scale, and the white settlers whom it used to shut out are
now its best customers. As the furs obtained in two
centuries of trading had sold for about $100,000,000, The Red
River Rising
the shareholders had no cause to complain of their
bargain.
The French Métis on the Red River, however, were uneasy when
they heard of this transference of the country to new rulers, and
even some of the white settlers at first objected to the change, for
which their opinion had not been asked.
The Government, to get the country ready for settlers, sent land
surveyors up from the East. The Métis took fright. Seeing those
strangers running straight lines across the land, the ignorant people
thought their farms were going to be taken away from them—the
long narrow strips of land running back from the river front.
A Governor was appointed by the Dominion authorities, and
came round through the United States, for there was no other
railway communication between Eastern and Western Canada. When
he came to the frontier, at Pembina, he found a barricade across the
trail, and was ordered by a “Comité National des Métis de la Rivière
Rouge,” or “National Committee of Red River Métis,” to turn back
and go home again. A “provisional government” was set up; Louis
Riel, a halfbreed of some education but little sense, the leader of the
insurrection, seized the Hudson’s Bay post of Fort Garry, and
imprisoned a number of loyal settlers. One of them, a young man
from Ontario named Scott, was tried by a rebel court-martial and
shot; his body was pushed through a hole in the ice of Red River.
A storm of helpless indignation swept over Canada—helpless
because the rebels were separated from the seat of power and
population in the East by more than a thousand miles of lake and
river. An officer then known only as Colonel Wolseley,
later on Commander-in-Chief of the British Army, was Birth of First
Prairie
put at the head of a boat expedition, which arrived Province
after a three months’ journey—to find that the mere
news of an army’s approach had put down the rebellion. The
government made it clear to the Métis that none of their rights
would be interfered with: the Red River district was organized as the
Province of Manitoba and gave no more trouble.
CHAPTER VII

The Mounted Police


N O; BUT out in the vast beyond were the makings of trouble
enough. From little Manitoba to the mountains, the thousand
miles of plain, then vaguely known as “The Saskatchewan,” lay
unguarded and unwatched. The old ruling company had given up its
power, and no new ruler had appeared. The throne was empty.
The Company’s authority over most of the tribes had been
extraordinary. By treating the Indians as its children, with a wise
mixture of patience and firmness, by avoiding interference as a rule
and acting swiftly and sharply when action was both necessary and
possible, the Hudson’s Bay men had won both affection and respect.
More than once a young clerk had walked alone into an Indian camp
after a murderer, shot the fellow where he stood, and walked out
untouched without a word.
What was to happen now?
It was the dangerous age of the West. Along the frontier in the
south the risk was great. Over the Blackfeet, in their pride and
power, even the Company had never gained as much influence as it
had with the rest. And now a new danger appeared in that quarter.
The neighboring territory of the United States had been allowed to
become the happy hunting ground of rascals. They snapped their
fingers at the law of their own land; they thought nothing of killing
their fellow-whites, and less than nothing of killing an
Indian. What was a frontier to them? Laughing at the Ruffians on
the Border
weakness of their own government, they thought they
could defy the British Government too. They did not know our way.
One day a band of these ruffians crossed the line from Montana
with a cargo of smuggled whiskey. Coming to a camp of
Assiniboines, they first got possession of everything the Indians
could be persuaded to barter for the fiery spirit. At night, when most
of the unsuspicious red men were indulging in a drunken dance, the
“traders” suddenly poured volleys of lead into the defenceless crowd.
Forty Indians were shot dead and many others wounded; only a
remnant escaped to the neighboring Cypress Hills.
The liquor was murderous enough, without such massacres. The
smugglers plied their devilish trade unceasingly; who was there to
hinder? The Indians, poisoned and demoralized, fought each other
worse than ever. If this thing had gone on, white settlement would
have been impossible.
The story of the swift restoration of peace and order is one of the
finest in Canadian history. It is the story of the North West Mounted
Police.
Rudely awakened by the Red River outbreak, and warned by the
Imperial authorities—who had persuaded the Company to surrender
the West to Canada, and were therefore peculiarly responsible for
the welfare of its inhabitants—the Federal Government took action.
A little force of three hundred red-coats was organized in 1873 and
told to keep order in a territory of two and a half million square
miles. Impossible, it sounds. Yet the thing was done.
The frontier campaign against the whiskey runners “It is Like a
Miracle”
in the south-west was undertaken by half the force,
150 men. In 1874 prohibition was established for the whole territory,
with severe penalties for selling or giving liquor to Indians. At the
end of one year Colonel MacLeod, the commander, was able to
report a “complete stoppage of the whiskey trade throughout the
whole of this section”—which was the worst in the country. The
drunken riots, which had been almost a daily occurrence, were
entirely at an end. In fact, “a more peaceable community than this,
with a very large number of Indians camped along the river, could
not be found anywhere. Everyone united in saying how wonderful
the change is. People never lock their doors at night, and have no
fear of anything being stolen which is left outside; whereas, just
before our arrival, gates and doors were all fastened at night, and
nothing could be left out of one’s sight.” “It is like a miracle wrought
before our eyes,” said the veteran missionary John McDougall, whom
I met years afterwards riding as a volunteer scout in the
Saskatchewan campaign. It was chiefly owing to MacLeod that the
Blackfoot tribes in 1877 signed a treaty by which certain lands were
set apart for ever as their Reserves, the Government agreeing to pay
them a yearly subsidy of $5 a head. Such treaties had already been
made with Indians farther east. At a great gathering of the Blackfoot
and kindred tribes, the Governor of the Territory, David Laird, told
them that the Queen was much pleased by the way they had helped
the Police and obeyed the law. “The Great Spirit,” he said, “has
made the white man and the red man brothers, and we should take
each other by the hand. The Great Mother loves all her children,
white men and red men alike. You will always find the
Mounted Police on your side if you keep the Queen’s Blackfoot and
Blood Make
laws.” Treaty
The head Chief, Crowfoot, coming forward to sign
the treaty, declared that the advice given to his people had proved
to be good. “If the Police had not come,” said he, “where would we
all be now? Bad men and whiskey were killing us so fast that very
few of us indeed would have been left to-day. The Mounted Police
have protected us as the feathers of the bird protect it from the
frosts of winter.” And Red Crow, Chief of the Bloods, who signed with
Crowfoot, added that MacLeod had made many promises to him and
kept them all; not one of them was broken. The town that grew up
beside MacLeod’s old fort preserves his memory in its name; and
Calgary, where he built a fort in 1875, was called after his birthplace
on the west coast of Scotland. A French trading post had been
established near the same spot on the Bow River as far back as
1752, by Niverville, a kinsman of the great explorer Vérendrye.
The most romantic tales are told of the Mounted Police and their
unbeatable pluck. Too romantic to be true, perhaps you think. No; I
might have thought so once. But after seeing these men at work, in
peace and war, I can imagine no duty so hard, so long or so
dangerous that they would shrink from shouldering it or fail to carry
it through at any cost. A single trooper would think no more of
walking into the strongest camp, arresting an Indian and bringing
him out, than I would think of riding into a herd of cattle and cutting
out a steer. Next day, with an equally light heart, he would start off
on a six months’ hunt for some desperate criminal in the ends of the
earth, travelling summer and winter, over land and
water and snow and ice, and bringing back his man or Achievements
of the
perishing in the attempt. Mounted
The Indians quickly learnt that the man in the red Police
coat was “he who must be obeyed.” They were
impressed by the fact that the Police, whether one or many, had the
authority of the “Great White Mother,” the Queen. That by itself,
however, might have forced only a grudging obedience. It was the
character of the police themselves that won for them an authority
over the tribes as remarkable as the Hudson’s Bay factor ever
possessed.
With rare exceptions, which were swiftly thrown out on discovery,
the Mounted Police were not only brave but considerate,
scrupulously fair, and neither to be bribed nor wheedled. That is,
they upheld the true British standard of honor. The Indian learnt to
trust them because they proved themselves worthy of trust. I have
known tribesmen come to a police corporal, rather than any one
else, for advice in all sorts of social and domestic difficulties.
Unfortunately, the Indians south of the line had had a very
different experience. There was no great company interested in
protecting them, and no one did protect them, from irresponsible
and rascally white men. Even the Indian Agents appointed by the
Government at Washington to “father” the tribes often proved the
worst of step-fathers. The Indians, swindled and outraged, took
vengeance in their primitive way on any one of the same race as
their oppressors. The innocent settler suffered for the deeds of his
guilty fellow-countrymen. Then the army was sent to punish, not the
white criminal, but the red avenger. Long and desperate “Indian
Wars” were the result.
The Sioux Chief Sitting Bull, after wiping out a “Where’s
Your Troop?”
force sent against him in one of these wars, fled to
Canada. That was in 1877. Already, the year before, 3,000 Indians
had come in from the States, saying they had not been able to lie
down in safety for years, and their grandfathers had told them they
would find peace in the land of the British.
The new incursion was decidedly embarrassing. Even if they
behaved themselves in Canada—as they did, under the watchful eye
of the Mounted Police—the name of Sioux had a terrifying sound,
and their presence wandering over the prairie would hardly
encourage farmers to settle there. Besides, the buffalo were being
swept off the prairie, and it would soon be hard enough to provide
for our own buffalo-hunting tribes. The newcomers, therefore, were
not given a Canadian reserve to settle on, and to our great relief
they went back to their own country in 1881, accepting an offer of
peace from the Washington Government.
A few years later, a band of our own Indians fled across the line
to avoid punishment for the unprovoked rebellion which I shall soon
have to narrate. When the trouble had blown over, they decided to
come back. A whole troop of United States cavalry escorted them to
the frontier at a point where they were to be handed over to the
Canadian Mounted Police. There they found a corporal and one
constable, with an interpreter. The United States officer was puzzled.
“Who is in command?” he asked. “Myself,” said the Canadian
corporal. “But where’s your troop?” said the officer. “Here they are,”
replied the corporal, pointing to his solitary constable.
Fort Chipewyan
Buffalo Herd and Prairie Fire

Mounted Police Chasing


Whiskey Smugglers
A Returned Canadian
Home Seeking

Astonished, the officer asked what the corporal would do if the


Indians turned sulky—there were more than a hundred
of them. “They won’t,” said the corporal promptly; “we Two Were
Enough
shall have no trouble with them.” Nor did they. The
tribesmen went quietly back to their reserves, like lambs.

THE GREAT DIVIDE


CHAPTER VIII

Our First and Last Indian War


T HERE were only fifteen hundred white folk in Manitoba at the
time of the trouble in 1870, but around them lived ten thousand
people of mixed race. Three-fifths of these owed their white blood to
French voyageurs; the rest drew theirs chiefly from Scots higher up
in the Hudson’s Bay service.
A small but steady stream of white settlers now began to trickle
in, coming from Ontario through the States. The French Métis soon
found themselves in a minority. The wilder spirits sold their land and
flitted to the banks of the Saskatchewan, four or five hundred miles
away to the north-west; but even there the stream of white
immigration followed, and the land surveyors again began to map
out the country with ruthless regularity. The Métis, living along the
river bank, from which their farms ran back in narrow strips, were
afraid they might lose their land, especially as the issue of their
patents had been delayed and petitions to the Government seemed
to fall on deaf ears.
In the fall of 1884, it was plain that a storm was brewing. Louis
Riel, after many years of exile, returned from the United States on
his kinsmen’s invitation, and put himself at the head of their
agitation for the redress of grievances. Chiefly, and naturally, they
wanted the same title to their land as had been given
to the Métis back on the Red River. Such grievances as The Duck
Lake Fight
actually existed might have been remedied, and the
threatening storm prevented, if the Federal Government had given a
little attention to the matter. Agitation was allowed to flame up in
revolt, and Louis Riel had proclaimed himself “President of the
Saskatchewan” before the government machine began to stir.
The Métis began, in the spring of 1885, by seizing the persons
and property of their white neighbors at Batoche and Duck Lake.
Mounted Police went to the rescue, accompanied by some
volunteers from the neighboring town of Prince Albert, but were
driven back with a loss of twelve killed, nine being left dead on the
snow. The rebels had beaten the white men!
Imagine what that meant, in a country where the little white
population of peaceful farmers lay thinly scattered among strong
tribes of warlike Indians. The Métis were a mere handful compared
to the pure-blooded red-skins; these numbered, even without the
tribes of the distant north, some 25,000, including braves who had
taken many a scalp in tribal wars, and in fights with white troops
south of the frontier. If these tribes had gone on the war-path, the
scattered white population of the territories might have been wiped
out of existence, and the re-conquest of the country might have
involved a long and hard campaign.
Everything depended on the Indians. The Métis knew this
perfectly well, and Louis Riel moved heaven and earth to drag in the
only allies who could give him a chance of winning. Adopting the
name David, and pretending to have supernatural powers, he
claimed to be a new Messiah sent to lead the red men and give
them victory over the white. He sent his envoys all
over the plains to rouse the ancient passion of the Battleford
Besieged
tribes for war. Promising impossible gains, and
threatening when persuasion failed, they did their very worst.
The strongest tribes, including the Blackfeet, decided to sit still
and mind their own business. This was partly owing to the fairness
with which as a rule they had been treated by the Canadian
Government and the Hudson’s Bay Company, partly to the influence
of missionaries and Mounted Police in their midst, and partly to their
own good sense. The railway had just arrived; and the spectacle of
an army of men constructing at marvellous speed a road of steel
across the prairie was a most convincing evidence of the white man’s
power. But for a while it was touch and go, even among the
Blackfeet. So it was among Piapot’s Crees near Qu’Appelle.
The flaming words of the new “Messiah” and his apostles had
more effect on the tribes along the North Saskatchewan. The more
intelligent chiefs, like Poundmaker of the Crees, knew well enough
what the end of the war must be, sooner or later; but the younger
braves, the hot-headed extremists, were shouting for a fight, and
carried the tribe with them. An Indian chief will never hang back
when his tribe is bent on war, however crazy he may think it; so
even Poundmaker, the white man’s friend, fought the white man
rather than be called a coward by his own foolish folk.
“The Indians are on the war-path. Battleford is besieged!” That
was the news flashed down to the East before we had recovered
from the shock of the Duck Lake defeat. The whole white population
of Battleford town, with hundreds of refugees from the country-side,
crowded into the fort, standing high on a point of land
in the fork of the Battle and Saskatchewan Rivers. This Frog Lake
Massacre
fort was simply a log stockade enclosing the Mounted
Police barracks, stables and storehouses. The railroad was nearly
two hundred miles away to the south, and the road to it was cut off
by the enemy. The Government telegraph line, the only means of
communicating with the outside world, was cut again and again by
an unseen foe. Imagine the feelings of the beleaguered refugees,
watching the smoke of their burning farmhouses, and wondering
whether they themselves would be slaughtered or starved before
any one came to their rescue!
Within a week, the exaggerations of rumor were rivalled by a
terrible statement of fact brought in by a scout from Fort Pitt. This
Hudson’s Bay post, ninety miles up the Saskatchewan, had been
held by twenty-four Mounted Police under Inspector Dickens, a son
of the novelist. Five miles farther north, on the picturesque shores of
Frog Lake, a smaller Hudson’s Bay post and a Roman Catholic
mission had begun to develop into a settlement, possessing even a
mill.
The Crees in that neighborhood, headed by a chief named Big
Bear, held a war dance on hearing of Riel’s victory, and ordered the
white folk into the Indian camp as prisoners. A Government agent,
Thomas Quinn, refused to go, and a furious Cree named Wandering
Spirit shot him down. The Indians had probably not planned a
massacre, but this taste of blood roused their tiger spirit. Nine men
in all were shot, including two priests. Only the Hudson’s Bay clerk
was spared. There were two white women, but friendly Métis paid
three dollars and four ponies ransom for them, and kept them safe.
After the braves had gorged themselves for ten
days on stolen victuals, keeping up their war spirit by Fort Pitt
Abandoned
frenzied dances, they laid siege to Fort Pitt. There was
no lack of courage in the garrison. Even the girls, daughters of the
Hudson’s Bay factor, William MacLean, shouldered rifles with the
men. But when MacLean went out to parley with the Indians, they
would not let him return; they only promised to protect the white
civilians if the Police cleared out of the fort. MacLean had such
confidence in his Company’s favor with the Indians that he sent a
letter telling his wife and children to come into camp, with several
other white and half-breed families; and he advised the Police to
leave, as the Indians had got fire-arrows ready to burn the fort
down.

Big Bear’s Demand for the Surrender of Fort Pitt


His advice was taken. The civilians put themselves at the Indians’
mercy, and the Police made their way painfully down the river, amid
masses of floating ice, in an ancient leaky scow. Battleford
welcomed the two dozen extra appetites with self-
forgetting heartiness; and two days later, on the 24th An Army
from the East
of April, this modern Lucknow was relieved by an
expedition which had come two thousand miles to save it.

“Would you like to go out as our war correspondent?” the editor


of the Montreal Daily Witness asked me when telegrams were
pouring in from the West begging the Government to hurry up
troops or no one would be left alive to rescue. The editor spoke with
hesitation. He had a tender heart and lively conscience, and hated
the idea of sending a young fellow off “perhaps to be killed.”
The young fellow laughed, and jumped at the adventure—it was
well worth the risk. A few hours later, with a knapsack for baggage,
he was rolling along through the States, as that was before the
Canadian Pacific was finished and the only railway connection
between Eastern and Western Canada was still by way of Chicago.
Canada’s problem, to save the people of the West, was a hard
one indeed. We had no regular army, beyond a few companies at
Infantry Schools and an occasional battery of artillery. The rescuing
must be done by volunteers, who were certainly keen enough, but
had little or no experience of war. Moreover, the troops were not
allowed to go through the States, as I had done.
The Government apparently thought they would have to send the
force up through the Great Lakes by steamer, as there were four
unbuilt gaps in the railway north of Lake Superior, and no passenger
cars on the three disconnected sections of track between the gaps.
But spring navigation was not yet open, and every day’s delay might
mean sentence of death to hundreds of peaceable folk
in the West. Van Horne, the manager of the Canadian Over the
Unfinished
Pacific, went to Sir John Macdonald, the Prime Railway
Minister, and offered to take the troops up at once in
spite of everything.
“How can you carry the men without a railway?” said Sir John.
“It’s impossible.”
“Raise the men, and give me a week’s notice of their arrival, and
I pledge myself to do it.”
“What do you pledge?” asked Sir John.
“I pledge my word, and, if necessary, my life,” was the answer.
“Can you do it in a month’s time?” was the next question.
“I will do it in eleven days to Qu’Appelle,” said Van Horne. And he
did. Over the longer gaps the troops were carried in sleighs; over
the shorter, they marched through the snow. They looked as if they
had gone through a campaign already by the time they got to
Qu’Appelle—but they got there in eight or nine days instead of
eleven, thanks to the vigor and capacity of the railway men.
Within a month, 3,000 men had been transported to the West,
some as far as 2,500 miles and the rest about 1,800. With over
1,500 Westerners under arms, a force of 4,500 was collected;
though, as it happened, the later arrivals had no chance to share in
the fighting.
The prairie section of the railway was already built, but it only ran
within about two hundred miles of the rebel centres in the north.
From Qu’Appelle one force under General Middleton had to march
against the Métis at Batoche, near Duck Lake. Another column,
under Colonel Otter, had to go on to Swift Current and thence across
the prairie to fight the Indians besieging Battleford. A
third force, under General Strange, including the 91st The March to
Save
Battalion from Winnipeg and a French-Canadian Battleford
battalion, the 65th from Montreal, had to march north
from Calgary to Edmonton, and thence reach Fort Pitt by trail and
river. Some of them marched the soles off their boots, but when I
came up with them towards the end of the campaign, doing sentry-
go in bare feet near Beaver River, they were cheery as larks and
singing the old folk-songs their forefathers had sung in the France of
the seventeenth century.
Embarking at Qu’Appelle in a caboose with an advance party of
Otter’s Indian-fighters, I landed, one fine April morning, at Swift
Current, then consisting of half a dozen shacks. When the rest of the
column arrived, we found ourselves 500 strong: the Queen’s Own
Rifles of Toronto, in their dark green uniforms; a company of red-
coated sharpshooters, picked from the Governor-General’s Foot
Guards of Ottawa; a company from the Toronto School of Infantry; a
bunch of blue-coated artillery-men from Quebec, with a gatling and
two field guns; and forty Mounted Police.
To reach the beleaguered town we knew we should have to cross
180 miles of uninhabited wilderness. We had, therefore, to
accumulate a train of farm wagons to carry food for the troops, hay
and oats for the horses, and even wood for our camp fires. Many
pioneer farmers of Manitoba and the territories let their land lie
fallow that year and spent the summer teaming at $10 a day for the
Government.
Hour after hour, day after day, the thin line of wagons and
horsemen, four miles long from van to rear, rolled northwards up the
trail. Not a man did we see, nor sign of life, except for the meadow
larks and gophers.
At last we stood on the bank of the Battle River,— The Night
Ride to
and over there we were thankful to see the old Cutknife
Battleford stockade still sheltering the refugees we had
come to save.
The Indians vanished on our approach, and pitched their camp
on Poundmaker’s reserve, nearly forty miles away in the west. So in
the afternoon of the first of May, leaving half our little force to guard
the town, but taking with us a company of the beleaguered white
men who had organized themselves as a “Battleford Home Guard,”
we set out on the enemy’s track, carrying five days’ rations and little
else.
All night we rode, and the sun was sending its first rays up
behind us when we saw at our feet a little valley where Cutknife
Creek wound in and out among bushes through a sandy bottom.
From the other side of the creek rose a gentle slope of bare turf,
flanked on either side by a gully. This was Cutknife Hill, where
Poundmaker and his Crees had defeated Chief Cutknife and his
Sarcees, many years before. But since then Poundmaker had
distinguished himself as a peacemaker; it was he who brought to an
end the age-long feud between the Crees and the Blackfoot
confederacy.
A few hundred yards beyond the crest of the hill we knew that
Poundmaker was now encamped, and we hoped that he and all his
men were still sound asleep.
They were—all but one. Do you ask how I know that? Years
afterwards I went over the battlefield with an old Indian named
Piacutch, who had been in the fight. When I asked him how the
Indians knew we were coming that morning, he told me—“There
was an old Indian, named Jacob-with-long-hair, who always got up
before anybody else. He went out over the hill, and his horse put up
its ears, and then he listened and heard wagons
coming; so he galloped back and told us, and we Surrounded
strung out as quick as we could, one by one.”
Scarcely had the head of the column got across the stream when
a scout dashed back with the cry “The Nichis are on us!”
The police were flying up the hill in a moment, with the gunners
galloping at their heels, and gained the top of the hill in the nick of
time, for the Indians were racing for the same point of vantage.
Foiled in this, the painted redskins launched a volley of yells and
bullets at the police, and fell back into a hollow, beyond which lay
the Indian camp. Meanwhile the infantry had leapt from their
wagons, and in less time than it takes to tell were lying in
skirmishing order all along the edges of the slope.
Puffs of smoke began to rise from the gullies on our left, on our
right, and even in our rear. We were completely surrounded by
hidden Indians, every one of them a sniper. If a rifleman so much as
rose on his elbow to fire, he was the target of a dozen marksmen.
Cover we had none. The horses and wagons were just bunched
together on the middle of the hill. The air seemed alive with
whizzing bullets, and one by one our men were dropping.
Do you wonder what it feels like, to find yourself suddenly for the
first time in the middle of a whistling concert of bullets, knowing that
any one of them may get you? Well, some are scared for a moment,
and a few stay scared. Others are exhilarated by the joy of fighting.
On Cutknife Hill that day, I suppose nearly all, though tired with the
long night ride, quickly recovered from the shock of surprise, and felt
little anxiety except to do their duty as well as they could. Personally,
I felt too much interested to be afraid; nor could I be
upset by the sight of death in ghastly forms, for my Heroism on
the Field
calling had hardened me to that in time of peace. My
chief feeling was just a keen desire to see and understand
everything that was going on, to gather up all the incidents of the
battle into a living and accurate story, so that others could read and
realize what I had seen.
The volunteers, whatever they felt, seemed in action cool as
veterans; cool of nerve only, for the sun beat down upon them with
all its western might. They wasted a monstrous lot of lead at first,
but presently settled down to more systematic work, and even
imitated a favorite Indian trick—one man holding up a hat as target
and his comrade picking off anyone who rose to aim at it. Those
clerks from Ottawa and students from Toronto were as steady under
the deadly hail as if they had fought through a hundred battles.
A most heroic scene was enacted by a pair of theological
students from Toronto. Three of the Battleford Home Guard, trying
to clear out the enemy from the creek-bed in our rear, were cut off
by a bunch of Indians. Their only way of escape was by reaching
and climbing a perpendicular earthen cut-bank. Two of the University
Company in the Queen’s Own, Acheson and Lloyd, who had
themselves got separated from their comrades, caught sight of the
Battleford men from the top of the bank and realized their desperate
strait. Acheson stretched himself over the edge and hauled up the
refugees by main force as soon as they reached the foot of the cut-
bank, while Lloyd took aim in turn at every Indian that rose to fire at
the rescuer—took aim, but dared not let fly, for he had only one
cartridge left.
So hot was the Indian fire that every one of the three Battleford
men was shot as soon as he reached the top of the
bank. One of them got a second bullet in him while Comedy in
Tragedy
Acheson was carrying him back, and they rolled over
together. Acheson was picking the man up again, when a Métis
scrambled up out of the gully and levelled his musket at the
rescuer’s back. Lloyd fired his last cartridge and knocked over the
Métis, whose body carried down with it half a dozen Indians climbing
up behind him. A moment after, a bullet pierced Lloyd’s side, took off
a piece of a vertebra, and stretched him helpless on the turf.
Acheson, all his ammunition gone, sprang to Lloyd’s defence, and
stood over him with clubbed rifle; but neither of them would have
lived another minute if a handful of their comrades had not come up
in the nick of time and driven back their assailants.
It is that same Lloyd, now Bishop of Saskatchewan, whose name
is immortalized by the town of Lloydminster. Acheson is a bishop too,
in Connecticut.
Desperately grave as the situation was, it had its moments of
humor. A bullet scraped the skin off Sergeant McKell’s temple.
“Another good Irishman gone!” he cried as he fell—but picked
himself up next minute on discovering that he was not killed at all.
“What on earth have you been wearing that red tuque for?” a
rifleman asked when he met one of the Battleford men at the end of
the fight,—“I heard there was a halfbreed with a red tuque on, and
I’ve been firing at you all the morning.”
The guns were the grimmest joke of all. The gatling sprayed the
prairie with a vast quantity of lead, and a machine gun is all very
well when your enemy stands in front of it in a crowd; but that is not
the Indians’ way. They had a wholesome respect for
the seven-pounders—which was more than the Retreat
gunners themselves had, for the wooden trails were
rotten and gave way under the recoil, so that one of the guns fell to
the ground after every shot and the other had to be tied to its
carriage with a rope.
At last our men were allowed to charge down the slopes and
clear out the gullies. The Indians fled before them, and prepared to
defend their camp. But we were not allowed to follow up our
advantage. Instead, the order was given to retire. The teams were
hitched up in a hurry, and the retreat began. We had lost eight killed
and fourteen wounded.
Imagine the Indians’ astonishment. We were leaving them
masters of the field. Before half of us had re-crossed the creek, they
were pouring down the hill after us like a swarm of angry ants. Now,
however, they were in the open, and a well-planted shell from our
rope-swathed seven-pounder (its companion had been put to bed in
a wagon), with the cool musketry of our rear-guard, held the
pursuers in check till the last of our wagons had struggled through
the creek.
The Indians might have turned our defeat into disaster if they
had circled round and picked us off piecemeal as the long-drawn-out
line of sleepy soldiers wound its way home through the woods. And
that is exactly what they would have done if their chief had let them,
as an Indian explained to me afterwards.
“The young men wanted to,” he said, “but Poundmaker held
them back out of pity for you.” Another old Indian added that the
chief brandished his whip and threatened to flog any Indian who
dared to go after the white man.
We were comforted by the assurance that we had The Check at
Fish Creek
taught the Indians a lesson; but it was exactly the
opposite of the lesson we had meant to teach them. Up to that time
Poundmaker had resisted all Riel’s persuasions to bring the tribes
down and join forces with the Métis fighting further east, but now he
could no longer resist the war spirit of his elated braves.
The bad news burst upon us with dramatic suddenness one day,
when a big train of nearly thirty wagons, bringing food from Swift
Current, ran into the middle of the Indian army streaming away to
the east. It was a great haul for the red men.

That was “the darkest hour before the dawn.” As hot a reception
as we got from the Indians, the other column got from the Métis
farther east. General Middleton had under his command about 850
men—two militia battalions, the 90th Rifles of Winnipeg and the
Royal Grenadiers of Toronto, with two batteries of artillery, and two
bands of mounted men raised for the occasion, under Major Boulton
and Captain French.
On the 24th of April the force was marching down the valley of
the South Saskatchewan, half on one side of the river, half on the
other. They were bound for Batoche’s Ferry, where the Métis had
their stronghold, defended with many rifle pits. One party of rebels,
however, under their “general,” an old buffalo hunter named Gabriel
Dumont, came up the valley a dozen miles on the south side, to
meet the white men and if possible check their advance. Skilfully
choosing the best spot for this purpose, they took cover amongst the
trees and boulders just below the edge of a gully which the soldiers
would have to cross. The rebels were hard to dislodge,
and in that skirmishing fight of Fish Creek ten of our Riel Defeated
and Captured
men were killed and forty wounded.
This checked the advance for a fortnight, till reinforcements
arrived—half the Midland Battalion of Ontarians, and a gatling gun,
brought down the river by the same steamboat which had ferried
our column across on the way to Battleford—one of those stern-
wheelers which are said to “float in a heavy dew.” A corps of
surveyors under Captain J. S. Dennis came up in time to join in the
final attack. Arriving at Batoche on May 9, the troops for four days
peppered the hidden foe, who held their ground and fired back with
equal courage.
At last the soldiers were allowed to charge, and they cleared out
the rifle pits at a rush. The battle was won, with a loss of eight
killed, including four officers, and forty-six wounded. Riel escaped,
but a few days afterwards he was caught not far away by a party of
scouts. Dumont fled to the States, and the rank and file of the
misguided rebels laid down their arms.
The news travelled swiftly to the west, and Poundmaker saw that
the game was up. One afternoon, therefore, when I had crossed
over to the south shore of the river at Battleford, I met the most
pathetic and picturesque procession I have ever seen: the Indian
chiefs riding in to surrender.
Here was Poundmaker at their head—tall and gaunt, with a
strong hooked nose, his long black hair hanging down his back in a
score of tight little plaits, each bound round at intervals of an inch or
two with brass wire. His clothing was far from royal; a pair of
shapeless blanket trousers or shaps, a colored cotton shirt, an old
tweed waistcoat and no coat at all. But his keen and dignified face
was that of a king, and though he was too thorough an Indian to
show the least sign of his feelings, I could not help
pitying the fallen leader in his deep humiliation. Poundmaker
Surrenders

On the Battlefield—
Friends Again
A Horse Ranch

Where no Trees Grew—Forestry


Station, Indian Head
Quality Raising Quality—
School Fair Prize Winners

Around him rode his allies and lieutenants. No two of them were
dressed alike. One gentleman wore a black “wide-awake” hat and a
long blue naval frock-coat with brass buttons, hanging over the usual
dirty blanket breeches. Another wore on his head the whole skin of a
big otter, its teeth grinning in front and its tail hanging down behind.
Still another had stuck feathers in his topknot, and a fourth wore a
hard felt Derby hat adorned with fluttering ribbons of many colors.
All of them had washed the yellow war-paint off their faces,
discarded their guns, and rode on, silent and impassive as statues,
to meet any dreadful fate that might be in store for them.
General Middleton, newly arrived from his victory at Batoche,
held his court in the open air, sitting on a campstool for bench, with
an interpreter by his side. Poundmaker sat before him on the
ground, the rest of the prisoners squatting around in a semi-circle at
a more respectful distance.

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